There seems to be an unusual running trend for me writing praise for Sandra Bullock in recent times. She is someone who I openly criticised as a wooden, talentless individual (but nowhere NEAR as bad as Julia Roberts obviously). Her movie career spawned (in my opinion) abysmal films such as Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice, and a list of films I don't think I've ever heard of according to IMDB (do they even exist?!).Sandra Bullock however, is also someone who gracefully turned up at the Golden Raspberry Awards to pick up the worst actress prize for "All About Steve" (A film she co-produced), and as a goodwill gesture, arrived with a trailer filled with DVDs of the film to give to the audience.
"Something tells me you all didn't watch the film because I wouldn't be here if you really, really watched it and understood what I was trying to say," she said. As she handed out the DVD's to the cheering crowd, she went on to say; "I will show up next year if you promise to watch the movie and really consider if it was truly the worst performance. If you're willing to watch, I'll come back next year and give back the Razzie." (Click here to read more).
This was just one day before she was expected to win an Oscar for The Blind Side...which she did, and up against stiff competition in Carey Mulligan's performance in "An Education", not to mention the everlasting Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia; the "Queen" Helen Mirren in The Last Station; and the undiscovered Gabourey Sidibe in Precious. (Click here for more information on the Oscar winners).
"The Blind Side" depicts the true story of Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron), a quiet, homeless teenage African-American youngster who hails from a broken home in a rough neighbourhood. Michael does not know who his father is and his mother is a drug addict of whom the State has previously taken custody of her other children. Michael has had little formal education and very few skills or motivation to help him learn, due to the societal dangers area of his upbringing.
Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), a well-to-do white family take him in as part of their family due to his unfortunate circumstances, with Michael's presence in the family's lives leading them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, Michael faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome, both academically and physically, accidentally getting involved with American Football due to his natural, raw talent. Working hard to protect his family and with the help of his coaches and new environment, an All-American legend was born.
Click below watch the film's official trailer:
For those of you out there who think that this will be a sports film would be wrong as, in my opinion, it lacks the gritty action that would pick up the tempo of the film. I found myself becoming increasingly interested and excited as soon as there was a sports scene (but then again, I do enjoy sports). This film is more about the emotional attachment between Michael and Leigh Anne, and how they in turn, helped each other.
Once again, as with "The Proposal", I find myself complimenting Bullock's talented performance as both a tough business woman, and emotional mother figure. Quinton Aaron didn't particularly have many lines to learn for this film and his expression remained the same throughout the film, however it was very convincing in the sense that Michael was a quiet individual who did what he was told, and this came across very well. Tim McGraw's performance as the doting husband was very believable and SJ Tuohy (Jae Head), the younger son of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, was a fairly convincing performance from this youngster. Collins Tuohy (Lily Collins), SJ's older sister, also put on a very good performance. One criticism can be made of Adriane Lenox, who played Michael's drug-addicted mother, as she did not act or give the impression that she was constantly under the influence. This can also be attributed to a fairly clean interior house set for a "junkie," and a lack of make-up.
Nevertheless, I have rated this heartwarming 129 minute-long film 7/10 and it is one that I definitely recommend that you go and watch. I believe that it required some more action, however the remaining aspects of the film were exceptional. A special mention needs to be made to the casting director (Ronna Kress), who picked a very similar cast aesthetically to the original individuals.
